Flatclassroom Workshops in Hong Kong

[Anne Mirtschin]

I have been fortunate to be a part of the Hong Kong flatclassroom workshop at the 21st Century Learning at Hong Kong conference, when not involved in other activities. Again, it is fascinating to hear the students mixed with others from a range of cultures and backgrounds, working in teams collaboratively - with students they did not know before yesterday.
At times, they listen to the conference keynote addresses, but at other times they focus on their pitch and presentation for the workshops. There are three teacher teams and 5 students teams. Each team has virtual members who come online when possible, join in the backchat and help mould ideas from their distant countries. It was good to note that several of my students, back in Australia, were able to be online this morning and join in the back channel.
The workshops are ably led by Julie Lindsay and Kim Cofino, who also presented an opening keynote address for the start of the conference. It is great to listen to these two leaders and see how they pitch the projects at the students and help them with any issues that might arise. The room is filled with busy interactive chatter, discussion and opinions but at other times it is so quiet, as participants concentrate on completing their presentations. These presentations will be uploaded onto the wiki and others across the globe will be able to vote for the three projects that think are most likely to succeed.
Cross posted